[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20575-20576]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             LEUKEMIA, LYMPHOMA AND MYELOMA AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. Res. 241, which was introduced earlier 
today by Senator Jeffords.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 241) designating September 2005 as 
     Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Awareness Month.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I am here today to ask for my 
colleagues' support for a resolution designating September as Leukemia, 
Lymphoma and Myeloma Awareness Month. Today, I want to speak 
specifically about leukemia, a disease that affects nearly 200,000 
Americans.
  Leukemia is a devastating cancer of the blood that will kill almost 
23,000 people this year alone. It is rare to find anyone today who does 
not know someone, a family member or a friend, who has battled 
leukemia. Recently, one of my former staff members, Jess Eiesland, was 
diagnosed with leukemia. He is only 28. He left my office in May of 
this year to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in 
finance. On June 18th, Jess was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous 
Leukemia, a form of the disease characterized by the uncontrolled 
production of immature white blood cells by the bone marrow. Jess is 
now back in South Dakota with his family and traveling to Minnesota to 
undergo an 11-week course of chemotherapy in preparation for a bone 
marrow transplant.
  In comparison, Jess is one of the lucky ones. His leukemia was caught 
early and he has just learned that his sister, Laura, is a bone marrow 
match. This match will reduce Jess' risk of developing severe side 
effects from the transplant or rejecting the new cells. Only 30 percent 
of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant have a matching donor 
in their families. Others have to depend on the kindness of strangers 
who have registered their bone marrow types with the National Bone 
Marrow Registry and volunteered as donors. In honor of Jess, a bone 
marrow registration drive is being held in Room 124 of the Senate Hart 
building on Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  Because of the risk of rejection associated with bone marrow 
transplants and the difficulty in finding donors, the National 
Institutes of Health and the private sector have developed other 
promising leukemia treatments, such as cord blood transplants and the 
pharmaceutical drug, Gleevec, the first of a slew of promising new 
drugs that target the underlying causes of the disease. To promote 
these innovative treatments, we must continue to support biomedical 
research. I applaud the efforts of our distinguished colleagues, 
Senators Hatch and Dodd, who introduced legislation earlier this year 
that would encourage cord blood donations

[[Page 20576]]

and registrations. This legislation has already been reported favorably 
by the HELP Committee and I hope the full Senate can take it up and 
pass it soon. Additionally, the Senate has requested a $1 billion 
dollar funding increase for the NIH in fiscal year 2006 to promote 
Federal research and innovation.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution designating September 
as National Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Awareness Month. Doing so 
will further disseminate information regarding treatment innovations 
and will encourage Americans to become bone marrow or cord blood 
donors.

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